kingkeld's Journal, 08 April 2013

So, what does one write in a "maintenance" journal that is different from a "weight loss" journal?

I have no idea.

In my mind, I'm still losing weight. I don't feel any different, other than that a few numbers are different.

I had my 600 calorie day yesterday. All I registered came up to 586 calories, and on top of that I had a few grapes (no more than 10) and a tiny sample of Wife's dinner when I came home from practicing with Burnin' Live! That bite and all, let's say 650 and I haven't done any harm to my numbers.

I am at 85.1 kilos, still two kilos up from the "approval" weight, but my fat percentage is still in the 7's. I have no worries about this. It's just a matter of keeping things right.

www.madlog.dk - which is my food calculator - says that if I want to maintain weight at this level, then I should consume 2700 calories. If I want to lose weight - which I do until I am down to 83 kilos again - it suggests 2100. That sounds fair. On top of that, I'd like to have my Indulgence Day available on Saturday. Indulgence Day is 3400 calories.

So, here's the math on the Rollercoaster Indulgence Day Maintenance Phase Diet (No, I'm not gonna it that, are you serious?!?)

7x21000 calories (as I'm looking to drop those two kilos) is 14700 - my total allowance for the week, starting yesterday.

I'll have two 600 cal days. I will subtract them as 700 to make room for errors. 14700 minus 1400 is 13300.

Then comes Indulgence Day - 3400 calories. This leaves 9900 calories for the last 4 days. 2450 calories per day.

This is super comfortable - and WELL under what I burn. If nothing else, this should keep me maintaining my weight if the whole "Us post-chubbies-aren't-allowed-to-eat-as-much-as-regular-people"-rule applies. We'll have to see about that.

Still, 2450 calories is SUPER comfortable, and on a regular day with just breakfast, lunch and dinner, with a fruit or three as snacks, I should be WELL within this number. No big deal at all.

Actually, a quick entry of calories today - because you know I can't just stop counting, even if I'd like to - tells me that breakfast, lunch, fruits and all comes to 850 calories. I could fit in a 1600 calorie dinner with no risk. I doubt that this will happen though. We're probably gonna end up around 500 calories. That's where we usually are.

Okay, okay. Enough numbers-nerding for now. :)

...

Band practice with Burnin' Live! yesterday was amazing!

We did an extended practice, and it was so much fun. We got a new song worked into the repertoire - Black Country from the band Black Country Communion (one of my favorites), and everyone loved playing it. It is fast, fierce and pure live music rock'n'roll. I absolutely love the attitude it it. Fast AND furious.

This is - obviously - not us playing, but the original band. I couldn't find the official track on youtube, so please excuse the somewhat bad sound. :)

I literally played until my fingers bled, practicing this one yesterday. The fierceness of the bass requires a slightly different technique from me, and my thumb joint knocks against the strings in a different way from my usual playing. First it just gets sore. Then comes a blister. Then the blister pops. Then the skin gets torn off. Then the bleeding and the hurt REALLY begins. This is where I am right now. lol. It's just while I build up the tougher skin at that spot - not a big deal. But working on it hurts like a...

...

So, today is the day! I start up my Weight Loss class today! I believe I should have 6 people in my first class. I really hope everyone shows up! 6 people is enough to get going properly, I think, and I really, really want this project to take flight.

Six people showing up would REALLY make my day!

I can't wait to get going on this. I want to help people drop some kilos. I want people around me as positive and happy and have them feel successful just like I am doing. I want them to get motivated and I want to give them a hand where/when I can.

...and of course, I want to build my little business. :) This is basically what is sponsoring my bass gear - so it also matters in the way thatif I want to expand the music equipment, then I need to work for it. That's only fair.

...

Speaking of music equipment, I always check out instruments when I am in Copenhagen. Saturday was no different. I know that I have found my next bass guitar.

It's a brand called Sandberg, it's German, and they make these amazing looking, "road worn" (not really, but they look it) basses that just look amazing! Whenever I go try out stuff at the store, I end up coming back to that one. It's calling me every time.

It's not too different to play from my Fender bass. The sound is somewhat similar, but then again not, and it plays like a dream. And I just LOVE the look of it! You can see it right here, should you be interested. You can click the photo and see a larger version. :)

Isn't she gorgeous? I love the vintage, road worn look.

Now, can anyone lend me 2,500 dollars? :)

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I woke up early today. It's only 5:11 AM now. Wife is still sleeping, she's got a few weeks off from work. Obviously, she's still asleep.

Technically, I could have slept longer, of course. However, I woke up 10 minutes before the alarm went off, and I was wide awake. I know that if I go back to sleep, then I'll just end up struggling to wake up later. I don't want to risk that. Trouble is of course that I still have an hour and a half before it's time to go to the gym. I wish they'd open earlier.

I was actually contemplating going for a walk first, burn some calories. However, isn't there something about Weights-before-Cardio? I don't know how much it matters here, if we're simply talking a walk and 30 minutes of circle training, of this this applies more to "serious" body builders etc.

I don't know. I'm still considering it. It's basically me getting a little exercise squeezed in when I can, or me NOT getting extra exercise. I'm sure it won't kill me. Right? I could leave in 30, punch in 5 kilometers, and arrive at the gym warmed up, and good to go for the circuit training.

Maybe I should. :)

...

Today, I'm thankful for: - A FUN day yesterday. Thank you Burnin' Live! :)- Feeling WELL in charge of my calories for maintenance. - No urge for the bad stuff. - Morning coffee. - Joe Bonamassa acoustic show from Vienna playing on the blu-ray as I write this. Great show. - Teaching today! YAY!- The excess energy to even consider walking for an hour before gym. :)

Happy Monday! Make sure your week is the best one yet! Life is good!

187.6 lb
Lost so far: 154.1 lb.
Still to go: 0.2 lb.
Diet followed 100%.

Good luck with the class today - I hope it goes well. As for the calories, as you've said, you need ot keep an eye on the whole penalty for having lost weight and burning less. I also based on personal experience think that every calculator you find gives you too much credit for exercise so keep that in mind too. I feel like at one point you yourself suggested you gradually increase calories for a few weeks to see if those maintenance numbers work. I hope you went for that walk, I don't think it'd really do any damage to go before circuit training. Have a great day!

Bkeller, you're absolutely right about me wanting to simply increase in smaller increments. I do know, though, that I burn quite some more than I consume. I am more or less using that approach, in a slightly different format. I'll try to explain it more in one of the next journals. I use the calculator on my Danish calorie counter, and mix it up with 600 cal days and Indulgence Days. My estimated average this week will be 1870. That's roughly 1000 lower than what I supposedly burn per day. We'll see what happens doing that. Then, I will slowly increase from there.

The order of weights vs cardio only really matters if you are training hard for a cardiovascular event (like a half marathon or something) or looking to really improve the amount of weight that you are lifting - otherwise it mostly comes down to whichever is most convenient or comfortable for you..

Erika, that is pretty much what I'm thinking. I wasn't sure, though. I did go for my five kilometer walk before the circuit training, and I did feel that I was extra tired, but I assume this is pretty obvious, burning about 400 calories before training. I'd consider having an energy bar before the circuit training, but I just don't wanna "waste" the calories on it. I'm a cheapskate. :)